On my way to an About.com gathering in New York City last week, I watched an episode of Dr. Oz’s show on the headrest of the airplane seat in front of me. Actually, I didn’t watch the whole thing, just the part about saving lives.

Dr. Oz invited a paramedic affiliated with the American Heart Association to come on the show and teach audience members how to do the Heimlich maneuver, how to do CPR (only chest compressions) and how to use an AED.

Overall, I really liked the segment. CPR for adults doesn’t need to take very long, and Oz and the paramedic were able to burn out these three life-saving tools in less than 15 minutes — as well as a short video from a hidden camera showing diners at a restaurant NOT responding to a choking victim.

I especially want to applaud using the paramedic to teach all three of these. Dr. Oz might be a cardiologist, but I’d venture a paramedic with a career as long as his has done quite a bit more CPR than he has.

I have a critique and a comment about this segment. The comment is just a point that slapping the back of a choking victim is always skipped in segments like this. There’s very little — if any — evidence to support that. Indeed, so little evidence that the American Red Cross has added back slapping back into its recommendations as has the European equivalent of the American Heart Association.

The critique has to do with the AED portion. Dr. Oz and the paramedic showed how to use the AED after they showed how to do chest compressions. Unfortunately, it gave the impression that using the AED and doing CPR are two different actions. They are, but they only work together. The AED doesn’t always shock and if it doesn’t, then CPR needs to be done.

I liked the segment, but if you really want to know about saving lives, take a true CPR class. Shows like Dr. Oz are really good at demonstrating what we should all know, but you can’t get what you need from passively watching a television show (or from reading a website). You need to get down on the floor and start pushing on the manikin’s chest.

One more thing: during the part on doing chest compressions, Dr. Oz told the audience to point to someone and order that person to call 911. That’s good advice, but I’ll take it one step further — tell the 911 caller what to say. There have been a few 911 calls from people who don’t know why they are calling. They just know that someone told them to call. Give specifics. “You call 911 and tell them a woman has collapsed” is better than “you call 911.”